The town of Belene is opposing its government's decision to abandon plans to build the 2,000 megawatt Belene nuclear power plant on the Danube River. On Wednesday, all 16 councilors on the town's municipal council adopted a declaration protesting the decision.
Belene hoped the construction of the plant would create jobs and raise its standard of living. The adopted declaration will be read aloud at a rally Wednesday evening, Sofia News Agency reports.
In addition, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has moved for a vote of no-confidence in the Bulgarian government in light of the decision, calling the move "catastrophic" for the country.
On Tuesday, BSP leader Sergey Stanishev invited all opposition parties to join the no-confidence vote consultations.
"The decision itself is a sufficient no-confidence vote justification for us. Not that we don't have grounds to launch such a motion on a wider topic, but we are afraid that the debate will get blurred. We don't want to steal focus from this fatal decision," Stanishev explained.
In order to table the motion, the Socialists need a total of 48 MP signatures. Their group consists of only 40 MPs.
Over the last three years, the Belene project failed to attract investors after Germany's RWE pulled out in 2009 due to funding concerns. Work on the plant also has been delayed by contract changes since the original deal was signed in 2006.